The family of a young man, along with the police, are urgently calling on the public for any information following a fatal stabbing that occurred earlier this year in Wollongong, New South Wales.
In the early hours of Sunday, August 17, at approximately 3:20 a.m., emergency services were dispatched to a unit on Crown Street. They found 28-year-old Brandon Yates suffering from severe stab wounds to his chest.
Yates was immediately treated at the scene before being rushed to Wollongong Hospital in critical condition. Despite medical efforts, his condition necessitated a transfer to St George Hospital, where he tragically succumbed to his injuries on August 23.
Authorities are now on the lookout for a man who might have crucial information related to the case. This individual was last observed wearing dark clothing and was seen riding a bicycle heading north along Hector Street in Wollongong around the time of the stabbing.
The police and Yates’ family are urging anyone with potential insights or who may have witnessed anything unusual in the vicinity during that time to come forward, hoping to piece together the events that led to this tragic loss.
The man was last seen wearing dark clothing and riding a bicycle north along Hector Street, Wollongong, at about the time of the incident.
Superintendent Karen Cook said Yates was understood to have been in the Wollongong CBD on Saturday evening and later that night.
Police are still trying to piece together his movements between leaving the CBD and the moment of his stabbing, which investigators believe took place on Crown Street in the vicinity of the block of units where Yates was found.
Cook said Yates did not live at those units but had “associates” there and was a frequent visitor.
Yates had a cognitive impairment, and Cook said his family believed that may have been a factor in why he was targeted.
“He was the most cheekiest, kind person that I knew. He had a good heart, wouldn’t hurt anyone, he helped everyone ⦠people took advantage of him because he had the biggest and kindest heart out there,” his sister Shantelle said.
“Knowing that someone would take my brother’s life for nothing ⦠I have lost my brother, my best mate, losing my soul mate.”
Rossilynne Yates, Brandon’s grandmother, is urging anyone who has information to come forward.
“It’s totally devastated us all, it all seems so senseless. We just want someone to come forward and give us closure, at least,” she said.
Yates was known to police, but only for “minor offences”, Cook said.
No weapon has been found.
